The Things That Stay [new draft]

New Year's Eve, 1985: the dawn of a year thrumming with excitement and promise...for everyone, it seems, but two. Tulsi Dulari is a depressed, cynical recluse failing to stay afloat after the loss of a scholarship. In contrast, high-strung, high-maintenance Simon Ganfrey has always been wrapped in a thick layer of cotton: the only material thing he has ever wanted for is a body that knows how to be a body. Plagued with life-threatening congenital illnesses, he hasn't bothered planning for a future that can be taken from him at any moment, and is unprepared to deal with the question of, "What now?"
But it's a question both will have to confront before it's too late.
When Tulsi takes a job as a hospital receptionist, their worlds collide minutes before the first day of 1986...when Simon flatlines. Eventually, an ungainly friendship develops between the pair as they slowly discover they have more in common than either would have ever guessed. From IOUs, tracheostomies and student loans, to mental breakdowns, post-it notes, and road trips, Simon and Tulsi set off on a mutual search for purpose and belonging. After all, is there really such thing as a lost cause?
[CW: themes of mental illness, self harm, suicide, chronic illness]